Autocollimators are used for determination of minute relative angles of reflecting surfaces. They project a light-beam through a telescopic lens and recollect the reflection through the same lens.
With reference to FIG. 1, one can see that prior-art autocollimators are built from: a light-source (1), an accurate beam-splitter (2), a source reticle (3), an ocular (4), an objective (5) and an eyepiece reticule (6). The light source (1) that projects a target pin-hole or a cross-hair target, is reflected through the objective (5), to produce a basically collimated beam.
The light from the reflecting surface is collected by the same lens system and is split by the beam-splitter (2). The image is formatted on the eyepiece reticule (6) and is presented to the eye via the ocular (4).
Minute angular deviations of the reflecting surfaces are represented as position changes of the projected target on the source reticule (3).
The angle deviation equates with the linear movement: D=F*2.alpha., where F is the focal length of the system and .alpha. is the angular deviation.
This invention is introduced in attempt to achieve the same autocollimation affect without using a special design autocollimator but rather using typical standard scopes, particularly riflescopes.
This approach introduces a potentially low-cost and accurate autocollimator.